The neighborhood surrounding the former E.C. Electroplating plant, where a 1983 chemical spill continues to contaminate groundwater.

GARFIELD — Despite lingering concerns from residents, the federal Environmental Protection Agency is maintaining that contaminated water around hundreds of properties in this former industrial center poses no immediate threat, according to numerous reports.

The area has been contaminated with chromium since at least 1983, when more than three tons of the chemical spilled from a tank at an electroplating company. A cleanup by the Department of Environmental Protection remediated just 30 percent of the spill, and the area was declared a Superfund site.

Chromium exposure has been linked to higher rates of cancer and other diseases.